The Water Rate Setting Study Data Portal

In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly awarded the GFRC a state appropriation in the amount of $769,000 as part of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery (CSFR) Fund. The funding supported a three-year “Water Rate Setting Study” that included deliverables addressing seven critical purposes, as outlined in Public Act 101-562 (approved in 2019) and amended by Public Act 102-507 (approved by Governor Pritzker on August 20, 2021). All data and analysis ensuing from this project can be found on this page, which is updated periodically to reflect research progress.

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Data Dictionary Heading link

All sanctioned water use including water that is billed to residents, businesses, or other end users and water that is not billed, but still authorized.

Authorized consumption is broken down into 4 categories:

  • Billed, metered
  • Billed, unmetered
  • Unbilled, metered
  • Unbilled, unmetered

A wholesale water purchasing agreement between one seller and multiple purchasers acting collectively. These cooperative agreements may take the legal form of a Joint Action Water Agency (JAWA), a water commission, or a water district (though a water district does not always include multiple purchasers).

A wholesale water purchasing agreement between one seller and one buyer.

A government, quasi-government, or non-profit entity made up of a group of municipalities to share wholesale water purchasing, water infrastructure development and maintenance, and/or water delivery. In Illinois, these entities are governed by Illinois Municipal Code art. 11 §135, Joint Acquisition and Operation of Water Supply and Waterworks.

All water that is unbilled, whether accounted for or not. This includes all of the “unbilled” authorized consumption plus any water supplied not accounted for. Unaccounted-for water may be “lost” to leaks in the system or used at an unauthorized endpoint.

When a water supplier (i.e., a municipality, JAWA, water district, private utility, etc.) extracts and treats its own supply of water for use by its residents/customers. This may include intakes from surface water sources such as Lake Michigan, other surface water, or groundwater wells.

The amount paid by a residential customer with a ¾ inch meter for 5,000 gallons of water consumed on a monthly basis. This metric only reflects the fixed and volumetric price of water and does not include taxes or other additional fees found on a consumer water bill.

Quantity of Lake Michigan water allocated through the permit distributed by IDNR/OWR (in Million Gallons per Day).

A government or quasi-government entity that is made up of a group of municipalities to share wholesale water purchasing, water infrastructure development and maintenance, and/or water delivery. In Illinois, these entities are governed by Illinois Municipal Code art. 11 §135.5, Regional Water Commissions.

A special district government tasked with providing drinking water service to residents. Districts may share a boundary with a single municipality or may service multiple municipalities and outlying areas.

All water pumped or drawn from own sources (i.e., municipal wells, Lake Michigan intake) or imported from other sources (i.e., purchased wholesale from a neighboring municipality), less all water exported to other systems (in Million Gallons per Day).

Other Deliverables Heading link

The project has produced a primer, reports, and a series of academic papers.

Primer, Reports, & Papers